1. Field
Aspects of the invention relate to marking or cutting a playing surface or positioning of sensors about a playing surface, and particularly to the playing surfaces of tennis courts.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Lines of a playing surface, like a tennis court, are marked most frequently by placing nails at corners of the playing surface and snapping a chalk line between the nails. A diagonal may be measured between diametrically opposed corners in efforts to confirm the proper placement of the nails and orientation of the chalk lines. Parallel pieces of masking tape are then placed around the chalk lines, such as with a line taper—a process that is very dependent on the skill of the operator. Once masked, clear paint is typically applied between the masking tape to fill any gaps between the tape and the playing surface to prevent any later applied opaque paint from entering these same gaps. An opaque paint, such as white, is then applied between the masking tape and the masking tape is removed. The applicant has appreciated that such methods often lead to poorly and inaccurately marked playing surfaces.
Sensors may be embedded in or placed on some playing surfaces to help track whether balls land in our out of bounds during play. Sensor materials placed on and near boundary lines of sports games, such as tennis, have been the subject of several patents, including U.S. Pat. No. 5,908,361 by Fisher, U.S. Pat. No. 6,941,818 by Rakowski, U.S. Pat. No. 5,394,824 by Johnson, U.S. Pat. No. 5,954,599 by Lucent, U.S. Pat. No. 5,672,128 by JAB Tech, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,840,377 by Bowser. The applicant has appreciated that in such systems, problems associated with inaccurately marked playing surfaces are often compounded, since mismatch between the visible markings and positions of the sensors may result in improper readings and/or a lack of confidence by players in the sensing system.